Get A V-dub! —
The rabbit is a fun car to drive and it's good on gas, but I
would recommend putting a turbo in it if you have the money
for it. It's okay as a commuter car, but if you're looking for a
fast car you should really look into buying the GTI.

Great —
wish the gas mpg was a bit better, needs wider sticky tires, at least some 205/45/17 would be perfect, fun to drive overall, looks sweet and tons of aftermarket goodies out there avail. but they tend to not be as cheap as they could be

Ownership —
Very good build quality, extremely fun to drive, fantastic fuel economy, peppy and strong powerplant, comfortable on long trips, extremely affordable, and so far very reliable.
Very fun to haul friends around in, plus you can really stuff the hatch full of almost anything, there is alot of room!

Good Car For A Great Price —
Great acceleration, I can easily pass on I81 (speed limit = 70).
Good power, and I reached 32 MPG on a 250 mile road trip.
Get the 6 speed tiptronic auto transmition.
The stock tires have passed my performance expectations in both dry and wet conditions!

Its A Nice 15k Car. —
Its a pretty well built car considering its price. It performs well, its 2.5 I-5 is a unqiue engine and will accelerate your call good. Its a fun car to drive, for it is quick and has pretty good handling. Makes a great daily driver and can get to you from point A to point B in a semi fun way. The interior in the dark with the lights on are spectacular. Great color scheme and the buttons are well played out.

Once You Testdrive This Car You Wont Want Your Older Car Back —
The only performance issue I have had is a lack of acceleration when it tops out each gear. My Inline 5 definitely needs a turbo charger. Keep in mind that I say this because I want this car to go 0-60 in 5 seconds. Stock with out the turbo is still faster than almost all of its competitors and I believe everyone will be shocked at how quick the 170 hp 5 cylinder is. I think you can get the rabbit with the turbo charger on the I5 stock but I'm not sure how much that would have affected the $18,000 sticker price that I paid for mine. The Triptronic is an amazing revolution and is so much fun to drive, although I wish it would allow you to max out the gear and NOT auto shift for you. That is annoying and all it should have is a rev limiter. As for styling, it would have been nice to have the GTI or R32 look with the base rabbit but I preferred to put on what I WANTED aftermarket. I plan on putting on some nice rims and Michelins to replace the steel rims and continentals. Even excluding these alterations, this is by far the best car I have ever owned. After the the stage 1 is added I believe this car would definitely be rated close to my dads C5 vette (The older 345 hp C5) only its more comfortable for a daily driver. This car is affordable, easy and cheap to maintain. Although I do have to admit some parts may be more expensive than some other cheap economy cars but they rarely break or fail. At least they haven't in the first 30k miles on mine. The rabbit knocks out all the others when compared to, the ford focus, the chevy cobalt, the honda civic, the toyota corolla, scion, kia, the chrysler avenger and caliber and many others in its category. In all aspects the rabbit has more power, is faster, drives nicer, costs less when comparable options are added to the competitors, so far has less issues, lower maintenance costs, safer (one of the top two safest as noted by consumer reports), and is all around the second cheapest car to own (in overall costs as noted by consumer reports), beat only by the Toyota prius. If anyone wants a car that has the power to keep up with the "sportier cars" but has better handling, fuel efficiency and a lower price tag, then you definitely will love a rabbit or any VW model. If you don't mind a two door without the automatic, a new rabbit starts at about $15,000 with a million more options.

Rabid Rabbit —
It accelerates very well and has a lot of room for a 2 Door Hatchback. Very comfortable and feels secure. Love 5 Speed Manual. I love driving it and can't wait to put some new rims on it in March.

Vw Rabbit —
Build quality, handling, and interior space beat the crap out of every other car in its class. Solid dashboard, cool interior lighting, decent gas mileage. And it's a blast to drive. One of my favorite things about it is that you don't see them very often.

From A Slightly Biased Vw Fan —
I have wanted to buy a brand new Volkswagen
Rabbit (Golf) since I learned how to drive. The very
first car that I called "mine" was a '92 4-door Golf
that I inherited when I was a senior in high school
(2003). I knew when I had that car that as soon as I
could afford it I would be buying a brand new one.
I bought this Rabbit in August of '08 and have no
serious complaints. The car handles well, has
plenty of power, especially torque (177 ft/lbs) and
is a blast to drive. It has plenty of driver legroom, I
myself am 6'4" and feel really comfortable driving.
Road noise is not a problem even going down the
interstate at 70mph.
Some of the minor complaints I have had include
mediocre fuel economy (for a "compact" car) and
expensive oil changes. The fuel economy is rated
at 29/21 (highway/city). I believe this is attributed
to having a five-cylinder motor with gear ratios
more appropriate for a four-cylinder motor. At
70mph the motor runs at approximately 2900rpm.
I personally feel that the motor has plenty of torque
and that either a 6th gear or taller gear ratios
would help to improve at least the highway fuel
economy. VW's warranty requires you to run full
synthetic oil, making the cost of an oil change
around $65 (the cheapest price I found at a VW
dealer).
The car has roughly 32,000 miles and with the
exception of a light-bulb mounting bracket recall,
has only been in the shop for routine maintenance
(oil changes and tire rotation).
I would easily recommend this car to a friend,
especially a friend that is looking for more than just
a plain car to get around in. Also, VW's have
recently had great resale value. For just over $15k,
it's hard to beat.

Extremely Good Car —
The car is very well put together, and drives better
than cars more than twice its price. It accelerates
fairly quickly, especially for entrance ramps onto
highways. The turning is precise, and its turn radius
is small enough that I can turn around in some
streets without doing a Y turn. Braking is good.
The build quality and materials are second to none.
Nothing feels cheap, unlike in its competition. For
weeks after I got it, I kept finding little details. For
example, there are slots for coins for tolls, a shelf
for the owner's manual in the glove compartment,
the seat belts are stitched in such a way that if you
let go after unbuckling it doesn't thwack against the
B pillar, it automatically locks at 8 mph (and while
in park it only locks from the outside so if you
press lock you can still get out from the inside), and
many more. It's thoroughly engineered.
Appearance is decent. I just have the basic 2-door
with black trim and steel wheels. The design looks
like it's a few years old, and, well, it is. However, if
you add the body kit bumpers, tint the windows,
upgrade the rims, and add Veleo LED tail lights, the
Rabbit can look really awesome. It depends on what
you're willing to spend.
Gas mileage is decent. I get 27-31 mpg usually,
and with gas at $1.40 now the fillups are under $20
and give me a range of around 380 miles.
Maintenance is fairly simple, and I got a standard
4-year warranty (now 3-year for 2009 models) so
maintenance at the dealer is free. Washing the car
is very simple, and one thing that's great about the
car is that the doors are sealed so that dirt doesn't
spray onto the metal between the outside and the
inside seal. The rims are kind of a hassle to clean
since there are so many holes, but if you get
different ones it's easier.
The one reason that held me back from just buying
the VW without cross-shopping was reliability. My
one problem with the car is that the iPod adapter
dock broke at 2500 miles, and the dealer's
response was to order a new stereo system for the
dash. It's not a big problem, but I drive through
areas with no good radio reception so it's annoying
to not have an iPod to play. What convinced me to
buy it was an article that claimed the Rabbit/Golf is
the 2nd most reliable car in Europe, and Consumer
Reports' high rating. Everything else has been
great; no squeaks or rattles. Complaints about the
car include no range estimation, no dimming side
mirrors, and a subpar stereo system (reliability and
sound-quality wise).
One more thing: In a couple years, Audi is going to
be putting the same engine in its S3, only
turbocharged. That means that there will be a
plethora of upgrades for the Rabbit's 2.5 5-cylinder
engine in the near future.
It may be more expensive than the competition, but
you get so many more amenities of more expensive
cars. It's almost unfair to put this in the econobox
comparison; it just has a small size (which is
perfect; I've moved all my belongings to college in
it, and it's really easy to park). All in all, I would
HIGHLY recommend the car.

Reviews From Other Years

Zippy Surprise RideBy sally410

One test drive and you will see. great pick up, easy to merge onto highways, just enough cargo space and the back seat is comfortable. This car feels solid on the road even in the winter in upstate n...
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What A Car Should BeBy Sooraj

really fast car which handles very well at corners and very cheap to upgrade for
right kinda price. build quality is good compared to other cars around the same
price tag like soft touch dash board....
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Practical And ReliableBy sfhiers

This car has been fantastic since we purchased it in 2012. We are the second owners and have never needed any maintenance on the car in this time. The car has more get-up than most people think, and i...
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Vw Rabbit Is A Great TransporterBy Jim

I bought this car thinking I would tolerate a small car to save on gas compared to driving my 3/4 ton truck. Well, I certainly save on gas (although not as good as promised) but I actually love the c...
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Kick-assBy Morne

2.0 16v golf mk1 with disc brakes all round
done lots of mods and still lots 2 come
maintenance is one of the problems with this motor because everything needs 2 be imported and comes at a high price....
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Volkswagen RabbitBy Samantha

Performance: Quick and zippy :]
Build: Modern and Clean
Apperence: Sporty and Classy
Cost of ownership: 29+ MPG, More costly Oil than my old 2.0 jetta
Fun: Absolutely. Strong performance and very nice...
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Vw Rabbit Daily DriverBy Hector

My vw rabbit was my first car to be modified (by me) it was my first
sunday project. it had minor modifications in the engine (better
lubrication, higher compression, bigger intake and carb).
This w...
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Great Beginner CarBy CJ2005

Well all in all my 1984 VW Rabbit is a reliable small car. It accelerates very well, good braking and handling. We get snow where I live and with the car being so light 2240lbs winter driving must be ...
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WinBy Craig

I actually own a Rabbit Pickup, more like two. It only makes 74
horsepower at the crank but it has a little get up. Even when it runs
terrible I got 35 miles per gallon. Parts are fairly cheap but k...
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